Day: August 29, 2017

Mom likes her orange juice, a lot more than the Boost non-milk-based drink (“Boost juice”). But an orange, especially one that has been juiced and now comes in a carton, is not a whole food – it doesn’t give full nutrition. I suggested a couple of weeks ago that I could make a drink with protein, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, electrolytes, etc. that the body needs. She balked at the idea because “I just don’t want it, that’s all.”

Last night I asked what fruits she likes and pushed to the end. “And…? Anything else?” Floyd would mention another fruit. Peach, for example. “I don’t like peaches.” “You eat peaches from a can all the time. You like them.” No solid conclusion to be made on peaches.

Today I mixed it up anyway – everything except the protein powder – gotta go shopping. She drank it and, at the end, scraped up the pulp from the glass and said, “I’m eating it because it’s expensive. Isn’t it?” “Yes, but you should be eating it because it’s good for you,” I offered. I hope this takes because it’s a bit more nutrition in her, and every little bit counts.

I was away in BC for 5 days and came back yesterday evening. Being absent for a few days, I noticed that Mom’s voice is really low and hard to hear. She just can’t push the volume out at all. She often asks Floyd to fill in when she gets winded telling a story. She’s obviously struggling for lung power and doesn’t have the capacity of even 2 or 3 weeks ago.
Mom is now on Tarveva seven days per week. The cancer has grown in volume and size considerably, according to her last CAT scan, so the doctor strongly suggested she use the cancer drug every day. As a consequence, she’s more tired than before and lays down several times a day.
In her conversations, it seems to me that Mom acknowledges that things are quite different now (since the fall several weeks ago when she broke her ribs) and that she knows she doesn’t have years like she once believed.